2003 Owners: Mileage Reports

[Casey Balvert]

Drag coefficient

You may find this of interest especially if you think you save fuel by taking the tailgate off. Of course this applied to the gen 2 body style but the results for the 3rd gen should not be a lot different. Cheers, Casey



http://mars.wnec.edu/~ehaffner/did.htm

 

[Rosco]

I recently made a trip from Rhode Island to New Hampshire and on the return trip I filled up just before getting on the highway then filled up again when I got home. The result was 21mpg at 70mph with an auto transmission and 4. 10 gears. Also around town I have averaged just about 16mpg. I have found the trip computer to be about 1/2 mpg less than my actual mileage. FInally for the record my truck had around 1400 miles on it when took the N. H. trip and now has 2000 miles on the clock.

 

[Jeremiah]

Re: Drag coefficient

Originally posted by CBalvert

You may find this of interest especially if you think you save fuel by taking the tailgate off. Of course this applied to the gen 2 body style but the results for the 3rd gen should not be a lot different. Cheers, Casey



http://mars.wnec.edu/~ehaffner/did.htm

That is fascinating! I'd always heard taking the tailgate off hurt, rather than helped, fuel mileage. On the other hand, that new cap proposal isn't likely to get off the ground regardless of how much drag is eliminated.

 

[Badunit]

Cool, some real test data on a real truck in a real wind tunnel. I'm surprised at the difference between removing the tailgate (bad) and just leaving it open (good), I wouldn't have thought it would be so much. I wonder how much the fuel mileage is affected by each percentage change in the drag coefficient.

 

[Jeremiah]

Originally posted by eowens

I recently made a trip from Rhode Island to New Hampshire and on the return trip I filled up just before getting on the highway then filled up again when I got home. The result was 21mpg at 70mph with an auto transmission and 4. 10 gears. Also around town I have averaged just about 16mpg. I have found the trip computer to be about 1/2 mpg less than my actual mileage. FInally for the record my truck had around 1400 miles on it when took the N. H. trip and now has 2000 miles on the clock.

Appreciate the response. I plan to take my newly-arrived truck to a Thanksgiving family reunion in NW Arkansas and should put a couple of thousand miles on it. I'll report back how well it does.

 

[Casey Balvert]

2nd tank

Just filled it for the second time. About 1000 miles on the odometer. Mixed driving. Cool weather for the most part. 18. 1 miles to the US gallon. 22. 6 miles to the Canadian gallon. The computer indicated 18. 2 mpg so it seems fairly accurate compared to real world figures. FYI. Cheers



Casey

 

[b.ferrara]

Re: 2nd tank

Originally posted by CBalvert

Just filled it for the second time. About 1000 miles on the odometer. Mixed driving. Cool weather for the most part. 18. 0 miles to the US gallon. 22. 5 miles to the Canadian gallon. The computer indicated 18. 2 mpg so it seems fairly accurate compared to real world figures. FYI. Cheers



casey

just to let you guys know i never close my tailgate,i average 23 mpg with my truck

 

[b.ferrara]

Re: Drag coefficient

Originally posted by CBalvert

You may find this of interest especially if you think you save fuel by taking the tailgate off. Of course this applied to the gen 2 body style but the results for the 3rd gen should not be a lot different. Cheers, Casey



http://mars.wnec.edu/~ehaffner/did.htm

Casey thanks for answering my question on srw or drw, any way

I never close my tailgate and drive at 62. 5 mph getting 23mpg

 

[4xquadrod]

I have yet to do better than 14 mpg. Truck has a 3" lift with 35's.

Considering a Banks System. I have about 700 miles on the truck. I heard it improves 1 or 2 mpg after some break in time ?

 

[Jeremiah]

Originally posted by 4xquadrod

I have yet to do better than 14 mpg. Truck has a 3" lift with 35's.

Considering a Banks System. I have about 700 miles on the truck. I heard it improves 1 or 2 mpg after some break in time ?

They are supposed to improve over time, yes. Like maybe 10-15,000 miles down the road. But Banks told me they weren't doing Oh-Threes yet... Did that change? S'cuse my ignorance, but what are "35's?" And are you running auto and bigger tires? That will have an impact on mileage.

 

[Augie]

Originally posted by Jeremiah:

S'cuse my ignorance, but what are "35's?" And are you running auto and bigger tires? That will have an impact on mileage.

35" inch tall tires

 

[Jeremiah]

Originally posted by Jeremiah

They are supposed to improve over time, yes. Like maybe 10-15,000 miles down the road. But Banks told me they weren't doing Oh-Threes yet... Did that change? S'cuse my ignorance, but what are "35's?" And are you running auto and bigger tires? That will have an impact on mileage.

OK, the 35s are the problem. You didn't say if it was auto or not. Which rear end? All of these things make a difference. Your truck looks cool, but you pay for it at the pump.



DC will tell you that everything is engineered to work together. Any modification by a non-automotive engineer changes the equation and is likely to produce negative results.



Keep me posted on what you find out from Banks. A month ago they said they weren't doing modifications yet. Here is a case where engineers know what they are doing. They (or DC for that matter) can take $2500 or $3000 and up the power significantly. DC just figures the majority of people don't want to spend the extra money. But they did design a HO engine, which is one concession to the power crowd. That's also to make it more competitive with the V6 Ford is coming out with.

 

[Brett Maverick]

Make sure you calcuate your mileage correctly with a correction factor. Those 35's will make your "miles traveled" (on the odometer) read about 20% under, thus, giving you way crappy mileage.



Brett

 

[Jeremiah]

Originally posted by Brett Maverick

Make sure you calcuate your mileage correctly with a correction factor. Those 35's will make your "miles traveled" (on the odometer) read about 20% under, thus, giving you way crappy mileage.



Brett

I read where those 19. 5" 200,000-mile commercial tires that sell for $500 apiece or more come with a correction kit. Seems like that would be the way to go if somebody wanted extra height.

 

[proudrammer]

Milage for a 4X2 '03 2500



305 miles milage on computer is average of 22. 5 per American gallon, 27. 15 Canadian gallon.



I am very happy with this milage.



Should get better as times goes on. This was highway driving varying between 100 and 110 kilomteres per hour (60 to 68 miles per hour)



Proudrammer



'03 2500 4X2 quad Laramie Auto, 3. 73,loaded no heated seats

 

[Jeremiah]

Originally posted by proudrammer

Milage for a 4X2 '03 2500



305 miles milage on computer is average of 22. 5 per American gallon, 27. 15 Canadian gallon.



I am very happy with this milage.



Should get better as times goes on. This was highway driving varying between 100 and 110 kilomteres per hour (60 to 68 miles per hour)



Proudrammer



'03 2500 4X2 quad Laramie Auto, 3. 73,loaded no heated seats

Those are very good numbers! Hopefully, the gallons burned and miles traveled will agree with the computer numbers.

 

[4xquadrod]

My truck has a 4 speed auto with 4. 10 gears. Before the 35' tires I was getting 14, now I am around 12 mph. The speedo was checked at a shop to determine where I was. At 65 on the speedo the actual mileage is 67. We think that the speedometer might have been off at the factory level. The odometer at this point is at 93% accuracy.



As far as Banks goes still waiting for their reply, they said they would get back to me.



However I love the truck and the mileage isn't really a problem for me.

 

[Jeremiah]

Originally posted by 4xquadrod

However I love the truck and the mileage isn't really a problem for me.

Now that's what I call a real Cummins enthusiast! Beat me, kill me, take away all my other toys, just don't mess with my Cummins truck! I understand.

 

[Parshal]

I have an '03 2500 now with over 4600 miles. I have a 5 speed with the 3. 73 rear end. I've gotten as good as 20. 45 mpg on the interstate with speeds under 77 mph. I average now around 18 - 19 given speeds over 80 on the interstate. I towed a 3000 lbs travel trailer last week 265 miles over I-70 west of Denver and over Berthoud Pass and got 17. 65 mpg. I was very impressed!

 

[Jeremiah]

Originally posted by Parshal

I have an '03 2500 now with over 4600 miles. I have a 5 speed with the 3. 73 rear end. I've gotten as good as 20. 45 mpg on the interstate with speeds under 77 mph. I average now around 18 - 19 given speeds over 80 on the interstate. I towed a 3000 lbs travel trailer last week 265 miles over I-70 west of Denver and over Berthoud Pass and got 17. 65 mpg. I was very impressed!

You're in my neighborhood, cuz. I live in Divide and my truck should arrive within the week at Johnson Auto Plaza (except I bought it though Auto Buyer Protection Services). I hope I am equally impressed as you are. Good numbers, especially towing. I may be sorry, but I bought the HO 6-speed for no other reason than I wanted it. I sure don't need it.